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	Book Recommendation: the Purple Culture Voice from the Desert May 18, 2010 http://reform-network.net/?p=4934 It’s said that a wise old Native American storyteller would often preface his tales by saying to his listeners, “I don’t know if things happened exactly this way, but I know this story is true.” The same can be said of novels, at least good ones. Often novels, like the parables of Jesus, get the truth across more effectively than the most logical fact-based exposition or argument. In the same way, The Purple Culture examines the reasons–the why–behind the cover up of Roman Catholic clergy sexual abuse of children more effectively than anything I’ve read to date. The story plot is straightforward. A federal grand jury indicts three Roman Catholic bishops—Robert Courteer, of San Miguel, Texas; Vincent Barieno of Palm Sands, Florida; and Wilber Sandes of Colchester, New Hampshire. All three are rising stars. Each is educated in Rome, holds an advanced degree, and is originally from the Archdiocese of Chicago, proteges of Cardinal Brendan Patrick O’Connell. The charge against all three: conspiracy under the federal RICO Act. Conspiracy to transfer pedophile priests from parish to parish within their own dioceses. Conspiracy to accept from and transfer to each other’s jurisdictions priest pedophiles to keep them from prosecution. And conspiracy to aid pedophiles against whom arrest warrants had been issued to flee the country. The bishops hire James Kobs as their defense attorney. Kobs has a tough job ahead of him because the evidence for the conspiracy is rock solid and Kobs is up against a very competent legal foe, federal prosecutor Bill Goulding. The book is a page-turner. Its style reminded me of the fast-paced Alex Cross novels of best-selling author James Patterson. I recommend this novel without reservation. I’m in good company in doing so. Here is what Tom Doyle, Jason Berry, and Richard Sipe say about The Purple Culture. The Purple Culture may be set as a novel but every character and every story in it is solidly grounded in fact. Every tragic example of clergy sexual abuse, hierarchical arrogance and lay denial has been repeated time and again in the recent past. The author’s purpose however, is not to re-tell more church-based horror stories but to examine a plausible answer to the vexing question why. His response to the “why” of it all is a brilliant analysis of the Catholic hierarchy within a multi-disciplinary context. His conclusions probe deeply into the “Purple Culture” and present the best and most plausible answer to date to the why of the destructive nightmare of clergy sexual abuse.” Thomas Doyle, O.P., J.C.D. Author, Canon lawyer and advocate for victims. “In the literary tradition of Andrew M. Greeley, The Purple Culture is a legal thriller about corruption in the Catholic Church. Stephen Boehrer plumbs a sinful human essence in his villains and, in a rare twist, draws a history of hubris to bear in furnishing a finale no one in Hollywood would dare to produce.” Jason Berry Author of the novel and script, and director of the movie Vows of Silence “How does one who intimately knows the workings of a secret culture tell the truth about it? The novel form offers an author the means to tell the truth beyond historical and statistical accounts. This reader thinks of Andrew Greeley’s epic The Cardinal Sins. THE PURPLE CULTURE, Stephen Boehrer’s fourth and best novel so far, propels him into fellowship with American writers the likes of J.F. Powers, Edwin O’Conner, and Walker Percy – that is, those who love the Catholic Church at the same time are unwilling to cover up its faults and human imperfections. This intriguing account from the inside of the clerical culture lacks some of the irony and humor of other writers, but deals deftly with some of the meanest and most distressing workings of a power system. One can hope that Boehrer continues to probe the purple culture bound by the scarlet bond of secrecy. We all, including the clerical culture, will all be better off for his efforts.” A.W.Richard Sipe Author The Serpent and the Dove: Celibacy in Literature and Life All three quotes appear on author Stephen Boehrer’s website. Click here to go to the website. Steven Boehrer, a Wisconsin native, attended St. John’s Preparatory School in Collegeville, Minnesota. After a semester of college, he served four years in the U. S. Navy as an enlisted man. Upon discharge in 1955 he enrolled in Holy Cross Seminary in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, where he completed studies for a B.A. in Philosophy. He next spent four years studying at the Gregorian University in Rome. Ordained a priest in Rome, he returned to the LaCrosse Diocese in 1962 and spent a year in Wausau as an associate pastor. Then, assigned to The Catholic University in Washington, D.C., he earned a doctorate in theology and returned to LaCrosse to teach in the seminary and at Viterbo College. In 1968 Steve was appointed Chancellor of the diocese. A day arrived when the bishop turned to him and said. “You think it’s more important to be a Christian, whereas I think it’s more important to be a Catholic.” That was the day Steve changed direction. The things that troubled him when he wore a Roman collar continued to trouble him, even after his marriage to his colleague, Rita Sheridan, and throughout a career in business. Steve’s troubles turned into four published novels that deal with clerical power, its use, and abuse. I bought The Purple Culture from amazon.com in its Kindle Edition for $7.99. You don’t need a Kindle to read a Kindle Edition book. Just download the Kindle for PC software from the amazon.com website, buy the book, and read it on your PC.
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